Stock Market & Financial Investment News

Ctrip surges after increasing ties to PricelineShares of Chinese online travel agency Ctrip.com (CTRP) are jumping after the company expanded its partnership with Priceline (PCLN) and received a $500M investment from the U.S. online travel giant. WHAT'S NEW: Ctrip and Priceline last night announced that under an expanded agreement Ctrip's customers will be able to access all of Priceline's accommodations outside of Greater China, while Priceline's customers will be able to access Ctrip's over 100,000 accommodations within Greater China. Additionally, Priceline and Ctrip will offer their respective hotel inventory to each other on an enlarged scale with more favorable partnership terms, including an agreement to enhance promotional efforts, the companies said. Meanwhile, Priceline will invest $500M in Ctrip through a convertible bond and Ctrip has given Priceline permission to buy Ctrip's shares on the open market. As a result, Priceline will be able to obtain a stake of up to 10% in Ctrip, the companies reported. ANALYST REACTION: A number of analysts were very upbeat on Ctrip's outlook following the news. In a note to investors today, Oppenheimer analyst Ella Ji wrote that the new deal increases Ctrip's access to Priceline's worldwide inventories and offers more cross-promotion opportunities to Ctrip. The Chinese company's expanding overseas inventory will further enhance its leadership position in China, according to Ji, who kept an Outperform rating on Ctrip. Similarly, Fawne Jiang, an analyst at Brean Capital ,wrote that the deal further enhances Ctrip's leadership position in the Chinese online travel sector. The analyst continues to recommend investing in the stock and sees it as a core holding in the China Internet sector. Jiang kept a $74 price target and Buy rating on the shares. Meanwhile, research firm CLSA responded to the news by upgrading Ctrip two notches, to Buy from Underperform. The firm now has a $78 price target on the shares. PRICE ACTION: In mid-morning trading, Ctrip jumped 11.8% to $67.60 and Priceline gained 1.2% to $1296.44.

On The Fly: Pre-market Movers UP AFTER EARNINGS: Ctrip.com (CTRP), up 20.1%... Rally Software (RALY), up 17.3%... Nike (NKE), up 5.2%... Darden Restaurants (DRI), up 4.3%... Cheetah Mobile (CMCM), up 3.6%. ALSO HIGHER: Prothena (PRTA), up 40.2% after reporting positive results from Phase 1 study of PRX002... Viggle (VGGL), up 26.9% after confirming receipt of offer from chairman and CEO Robert Sillerman... Intercept Pharmaceuticals (ICPT), up 8.5% after announcing new data analyses from FLINT trial... Biogen Idec (BIIB), up 9.7% after presenting positive interim results from study of aducanumab... Pier 1 Imports (PIR), up 5.2% after being upgraded to Outperform from Perform at Oppenheimer... JinkoSolar (JKS), up 2.8% after announcing that it will supply 75 MWdc of its PV solar modules to Red Horse 2 project and following a strategic collaboration agreement with DuPont (DD). DuPont is up just under 1%. DOWN AFTER EARNINGS: AK Steel (AKS), down 6.8%... Youku Tudou (YOKU), down 4.9%... Tiffany (TIF), down 3.3%. ALSO LOWER: Macerich (MAC), down 7.7% after Simon makes $95.50 per share "best and final" offer.

Priceline bookings tracking towards upper end of guidance, says CantorAfter conducting checks on global search traffic to Booking.com and other Priceline brands through mid- March, Cantor thinks the checks suggest that the company's bookings are tracking towards the upper end of management's guidance this quarter. The firm keeps a $1,360 price target and Buy rating on the shares.

Priceline shares inexpensive 'by many measures,' says Piper JaffrayPiper Jaffray says its conclusion from several valuation analyses is that shares of Priceline are inexpensive "by many measures." When compared to a comp group of hotel companies, the stock trades at a "material discount," Piper states. It believes shares are worth in excess of its $1,375 price target. The firm reiterates an Overweight rating on the name.